The present invention relates to a plasticized sulfur composition, particularly a plasticized sulfur composition useful for coating surfaces such as walls and the like.
Plasticized sulfur mixtures are disclosed in various references. For example, J. I. Jin gives the following tabular comparison of plasticized sulfur compositions in his report given at the ACS Los Angeles meeting, Symposium on New Sulfur Chemistry, Apr. 19, 1974, page 235:
TABLE I ______________________________________ COMPARISON OF PLASTICIZED SULFUR COMPOSITIONS Refer- Plasticizer Melt Viscosity Regulator ence ______________________________________ Mixture of dithiol Chlorinated Polyphenols and higher thiols (2) Arylenepolysulfide (ZM-399)* and aliphatic poly- sulfide (LP-3)** None (3,6) ##STR1## Diphenyl dithiophosphate (4) and styrene Dithiol Monomercaptan (5) ______________________________________ *Thiokol's styrene polysulfide **Thiokol's liquid polysulfide (2) Louthan, R.P., U.S. Pat. No. 3,434,852 (March 1969). (3) Barnes, M.D., U.S. Pat. No. 3,316,115 (April 1967). (4) Signouret, J.B., U.S. Pat. No. 3,560,451 (February 1971). (5) Kane, J.C., U.S. Pat. No. 3,447,941 (June 1969). (6) Dale, J.M., Report No. 1 (Sept. 1961); Report No. 2 (April 1962); Report No. 3 (June 1963), Project 10922 Southwest Research Institute.
Other reports of interest given at the above ACS Symposium on New Sulfur Chemistry include that by B. R. Currell et al, "Plasticization of Sulphur," which report was concerned with a study of the chemical interaction of additives (such as polymeric polysulfides, unsaturated hydrocarbons and phenolic derivatives) with sulfur and also measurement, using differential scanning calorimetry and electron microscopy, of the rate of crystallization of sulfur in the presence of these additives. Limonene, myrcene, dicyclopentadiene and cycloocta-1,3-diene were found particularly effective in retarding sulfur crystallization. Other reports at the ACS Symposium of interest include that by T. A. Sullivan et al, "The Use of Sulfur in Coatings and Structural Materials". The Sullivan et al report describes use of a sulfur formulation in construction of a cinder block building where the blocks were stacked dry and bonded together by spraying with the formulation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,453,125 describes modifiers to reduce the viscosity of plasticized sulfur. According to the patent the viscosity of plasticized sulfur compositions comprising elemental sulfur plasticized with an organic sulfur-plasticizing agent is reduced by the addition of a modifying amount of a persulfide of the formula EQU A--R--S.sub.x --R--A
wherein each R is a hydrocarbon radical having up to about 10 carbon atoms, at least one A is hydroxyl or carboxyl and x is an integer of from 2 to about 5.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,316,115 describes plasticized sulfur marking compositions useful for marking roads and the like. The composition comprises a major amount of sulfur plasticized with at least one polysulfide polymer. The polysulfide plasticizer, according to the patent, may be (1) an aryl polysulfide wherein the bridging links between adjacent sulfur atoms in the polymer chain include an aromatic radical; and/or (2) an aliphatic polysulfide wherein the bridging links between adjacent sulfur atoms in the polymer chain include aliphatic ether linkages, e.g., --CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 --and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,000 describes a method of bonding building blocks without the use of any bonding medium on the contacting surfaces between the building blocks. According to the method a plasticized sulfur composition is coated on the external surfaces of the stacked building blocks. The plasticized sulfur composition consists essentially of sulfur, a polysulfide plasticizer and glass fibers. Preferred plasticizers are aryl polysulfides and aliphatic polysulfides. Aryl polysulfides are exemplified by styrene polysulfide which has been available as Thiokol polymer ZM-399. Aliphatic sulfides are exemplified in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,000 by Thiokol LP-3 which contains ether linkages and has the recurring unit EQU --S.sub.x CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 OCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 S.sub.x --
where x has a value of 4.
My related application, Ser. No. 529,258, is directed to a composition containing sulfur dicyclopentadiene, glass fiber and mica. My related patent application, Ser. No. 518,438, is directed to a composition comprising sulfur, a sulfur plasticizer, a dispersing agent, and asbestos fibers of a specified mix.